A Place Where We Belong
by Davishater
Summary: Two very broken people, in need of some love, will keep finding themselves taking refuge in the arms of the people they love the most. Taken place after the Digimon Frontier series, with Digimon 02 in the same universe. Yes, this IS a fanfiction, but because of the way I'm writing it, you can still read the story, even if you have NOT seen Digimon. Credit to my friend for the cover
1. Chapter 1: A New Home

"So, you're really moving out?" the older boy asked his brother.

"Kouichi, how many more times are you going to ask me that?" the other boy replied to his twin, annoyed.

"I'm just making sure this is what you really want, Koji."

"Well, quite askin'! It's buggin' the heck outta me!"

"S-sorry," Kouichi shyly replied and continued to help his brother pack his belongings into boxes.

The air quickly became heavy and weighed on the shoulders of the two boys. Anyone could tell they were uncomfortable around each other. Who could blame them?

Their parents' divorce was final when they were 2 years old and then, their sweet, caring mother took Kouichi, and their bipolar father took Koji. They lived both of their lives thinking they were an only child.

Koji was always told that he was an only child and that his mother died in an accident, but he couldn't help but think there was something more. He was told nothing but lies.

Kouichi just assumed he was an only child because he only saw he and his mother at the dinner table. He started to question his family dynamics after his Grandmother became very sick.

"Kouichi," his Grandmother struggled to speak as she was drawing in her last few breaths.

Kouichi sat next to her on the hospital bed and held her shaky, delicate hands, hoping he could soothe her in the last moments of her life.

"Kouichi, you have a brother. His name is Koji."

Kouichi stared at his Grandmother, dumbfounded. Before he could reply, ask, or say anything, his Grandmother had left him.

From that day forward, he had wanted to know more about his brother, Koji, but he couldn't ask his mom about it; she was already struggling as is. She was always taking on extra shifts at work, stressing over how to pay the bills, and her muscles ached from all her stress.

Therefore, he decided to take matters into his own hands. After hours of research, Kouichi finally found the place Koji and his father lived, but he could never find the courage to introduce himself. Instead, he would follow Koji around, waiting for the right time to tell Koji who he was.

After a couple of weeks, Kouichi finally decided to show Koji his face, but the day couldn't have been more disastrous: the day they found themselves in the Digital World.

Koji, Kouichi, and a few others learned they were housing six of the ten Legendary Warriors inside them: fire, ice, wind, lightning, light, and dark. After many trials in the Digital World, the brothers that held the light and dark spirits had finally met, but not without Koji's confusion. Even after the brothers talked and tried to form a relationship, everything was still awkward.

"So…" Kouichi started, hesitant to break the cold atmosphere. "Dad seemed nice."

"Yeah, cause you don't live with him!" the other snapped, too quickly. Koji glared at the final box he taped up and easily picked up 3 large boxes and said, "Let's go."

Kouichi watched his brother gallop down the stairs with ease as he struggled to lift up one box and carefully put both feet on each step before ascending to the next one.

Koji was waiting at the front door, tempted to yell at his older brother to hurry up, but knew that wouldn't be the best thing to do, so he reluctantly waited.

"Kouichi, I'm so happy I was finally able to meet you," their father said when Kouichi had gotten to the bottom of the staircase.

"Oh!" Kouichi put down the box and walked over to his father, expecting a hug, but got a firm handshake instead. "I'm happy I was able to meet you too, dad."

"I hope we can find some time to bond."

"Quite telling him lies, you dirty bas-" Koji growled at his father, until he was cut off by his stepmom.

"Koji, please-" but, she was cut off by his frightening glare.

"Can you be nice to her for once in your life, Koji?" his father scolded him.

"No, actually, I can't!" Koji snapped back. "I thought it was only supposed to be us! You and me! Well, that reality came crashing down when you told me your wedding date! Wedding date? Hah, I never knew you were engaged! No, I didn't even know you were dating someone!"

"Koji, you were too young to understa-"

"I was 5! Too young or not, I'd still like to know these kinds of things!"

"What does this have to do wit-"

"Shut up! I'm talking!" Koji growled and gritted his teeth. "You've always lied to me! Always! I wouldn't be surprised if you lied to her, too. Why should I make an effort to be nice to her when you're just going to get a divorce, again!"

A cold silence filled the air.

"I'm so done!" Koji rolled his eyes and grabbed the fourth box his brother was supposed to carry. "Kouichi, I'll be in the car when you're done."

Air thick and cold; Kouichi was definitely not used to this kind of atmosphere and it frightened him. Not because Koji was being a jerk, but because of the aura he gave off. It amazes him how he and his brother are the complete opposite of their spirits.

'Maybe the God of this world messed up…' Kouichi thought.

"You might as well be off. Koji's never been a patient kid."

"Yeah…" Kouichi sadly replied, not completely listening.

"We can get together another time and catch up if you want," Kouichi's father told him, tapping his shoulder to bring him back down to earth.

"Oh, yeah! That'd be nice!" Kouichi said, faking a smile. "I'll call you later."

The twins' father waved to them 'goodbye' as the car drove off.

After five minutes of driving, the twins' biological mom abruptly exhaled with irritation and laughed, "I did not want to see him!"

Then, Kouichi laughed with his mother as Koji smirked at her comment.

"Yeah well, I'm sure he didn't want to see you either." Koji chuckled.

"Good! I wouldn't want to get his hopes up, or anything!" she said with a snarky reply.

Another burst of laughter came from the front seat, where Kouichi and their mom were sitting.

'They're too noisy…' Koji thought and listened as they chatted the whole four hours back to Koji's new home.

"So, Kouichi, what did you think of your father?"

"Oh, no! Please, don't ask!"

"It was that bad, huh?" their mom asked Kouichi, sympathetically.

"Well, no but, it was just so awkward! I tried to hug him, but he just shook my hand! Like, what am I supposed to do with that?"

"Hah, hah, I'm sorry, honey. I completely forgot that he doesn't like human contact."

"It's not your fault, Mom." Kouichi sincerely smiled.

Once they were 10 minutes from Koji's new home, he started having doubts:

'Maybe this was a bad idea. Mom and Kouichi are too loud and giggly. Ew! Why are they so happy? Didn't his- or, our grandma die not that long ago? Maybe they're happy she's gone? Maybe I should've just stayed with dad. Dad never bothered me… unless if we were in the same room, of course. I hate him! Maybe I should have called my Uncle, but he's always traveling, so if I moved in with him, I'd be alone 95% of the time. Actually, that's not a bad idea. Then I can try that new training exercise I came up with-'

"Koji, I know it's not nearly as large as your house," his mother said, pulling Koji away from his doubts. "But I hope you'll be able to call this place your home, too."

Koji looked out his window and saw a one-story house painted with a cream color. There couldn't be more than three rooms, plus a garage, in the small house. The mini lawn, that was the length of the front room window, had some yellow patches scattered here and there, but the flowers below the front window took your eyes away from the dead grass. This new home was definitely a lot smaller than his old one, but he knew he could manage.

'Maybe, I can train here, too,' Koji thought, stepping out of the car.


	2. Chapter 2: Adjusting

Koji woke up with his bones aching; it was warmer in the living room than he could handle. He was never fond of the heat, or the cold for that matter. He rolled over but fell off the small couch, wincing in pain. He wasn't that far from the ground to begin with, but the fall put extra pressure on his joints than he wanted.

"Oh, careful! I hope that didn't hurt as much as it looked." Koji heard a quiet voice from across the room.

"Where are you off to?" Koji asked his twin, ignoring his comment. He had a backpack on his shoulders and looked fairly decent with a plain, navy blue, baseball cap and cream colored skinny jeans.

"I told you last night, Koji. Yesterday was the last day of spring break, and starting today is a new term." Kouichi responded.

"I forgot."

"I have some stuff I have to do right after school, but it should only take a couple of hours. I'll try to be home by 5 o'clock."

"Fine. Have fun at that prison."

"Hey, going to school is kind of fun. You should try it sometime."

"No thanks, I'll stick with being homeschooled."

"Alright, whatever you say, Koji. I'll be off now, so don't get too lonely until 5."

"Whatever, just leave, you idiot." Koji chuckled.

"Haha. Ok, ok, bye!" Kouichi said, closing the front door behind him.

Finally, Koji was left all alone. He felt more content that way. It had been a few days since he had moved in with his twin brother, but he still wasn't used to the happy atmosphere that surrounded him every second of the day, even when he was there alone.

He saw a couple of pictures on the wall with his mom and brother, smiling like they didn't have a care in the world. On the coffee table in front of him, there was a maroon photo album laying neatly on a small layer of dust. Koji watched the book for a couple of minutes as if he was waiting for it to grow legs and walk out the door. He hesitated to look at the pictures in the book but pushed himself to do so. Opening to a random page, he found Kouichi, smiling at the camera with his arm around a girl's shoulder. Koji could feel the joy radiating from the picture. He quickly slammed the book shut and furrowed his brow.

"Disgusting!" he said to the photo album and wandered into the kitchen to find some food.

Koji has never been the type of person to find joy in the little things or to pretend that he was happy.

"Koji, can't you at least pretend that you're happy?" his father had asked him on his wedding day.

"Why would I do that? I mean, showing people that I'm 'happy' when I'm actually not is the same thing as lying. You might be fine with lying to people's faces 24/7, but I'm not," Koji replied.

This sad boy has only felt joy a handful of times in his life. The first few times he won a Kendo Championship he felt joy, but now, each time he wins, he feels accomplished, not happy. He felt joy when he met his real mom, and everytime his uncle would visit him. He has also felt joy each time he came up with a new training exercise, but that's it.

Koji opened one of the cupboards and found some cashews he brought from his old house. He also grabbed a jug of water from the fridge and sat cross-legged in front of the coffee table, glaring at the front door. This was a habit he picked up whenever his dad and stepmom went out. He'd find himself glaring for hours, just so he could make them feel uncomfortable as they walked in the front room. Koji had always found their reaction amusing.

Before he knew it, six hours had gone by that consisted of Koji stretching, exercising, meditating, and updating his social media. He had been doing push-ups when his phone lit up from a text message from his brother:

_I'll be coming home right after school cause there's someone I want you to meet. I hope that's ok. Actually, you don't have a choice, sorry; she's being too pushy… I'll see you in a few hours. :D _

"Whatever," Koji said to himself, somewhat annoyed.

That morning, Kouichi had walked to school alone and didn't like the open space. He would always walk with someone, but lately, he's been avoiding them. As he walked onto the school grounds, he heard a familiar voice and almost turned around, but realized that his friend did not sound happy.

"Kouichi Kimura! Where the heck have you been?" An angry, young, girl came dashing to the older twins' side and smacked the back of his head.

He whimpered his reply, saying, "Ow! Jay, that hurt! What is wrong with you?"

"It was supposed to!" she growled. "And it's nice to see you too, _friend._"

"Sorry, sorry! Lately, everything has been… complicated."

"So, are you going to tell me? Or am I going to have to kick you in the balls, again?"

"Ok, please no!" Kouichi quickly replied, absentmindedly shielding his crotch with his hands.

"Geeze, calm yourself, dude!" She teasingly rolled her eyes. "I was kidding."

"You weren't kidding the first time!"

"Oh my gosh, this again? How many times do I have to tell you? It was an accident!"

"How would you feel if I accidentally kicked you in the chest?"

"Mh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Jay said, jokingly, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Ew, Jay that's gross, stop."

They both burst out laughing and held on to each other's shoulders for stability. When the two friends were finally able to stand on their own, they hugged each other tightly.

"Crap! I really missed you, man!"

"Haha, I missed you too, Jay."

"Kouichi," Jay started, gently pulling herself away from his grasp. "Please, I'm worried about you. What happened after Granny died?"

There was a long pause as Jay watched Kouichi nervously scratch the back of his neck. She waited for his reply, he didn't answer.

"Kouichi, are you sick?"

"No."

"Are you depressed?"

"I don't think so."

"Kouichi!" she said more sternly.

As he was about to answer her, the warning bell rang, signaling the students to head to their first class of the day. Kouichi let out a sigh and started to walk away, but his friend grabbed his arm before he could get any further.

"I-" he started to say, but hesitated. "I'll tell you at lunch. There's a lot that I need to talk to you about, but I don't know how to say it. If you can wait until lunch, then I promise, I will tell you everything. Deal?"

Jay reluctantly obliged and let him be. All through their classes, he looked like he was mentally beating himself up. With his eyebrows knitted and a frown on his face, Jay could tell that, whatever made her best friend distance himself from her, it was serious.

**A/N: Thank you so much for your support! I'm really surprised on how many reads I got on the first chapter, and how quickly, too! Seeing the views and knowing at least 2 people put my story on their 'like' list has bumped my self esteem drastically, thank you. If you enjoy this story, please show it to your friends, family and colleagues, because, like I said in the summary, you don't need to know or like Digimon, to understand the plot. I love feedback and constructive criticism and, if you have questions about a plot point, or if something sounds rushed, please let me know. I want everything I write to be the best quality that it can be. If you don't know how to explain your suggestion or think it sounds rude, that's ok. Feel free to tell me to recheck a certain area, or something. I hope everyone was able to enjoy this chapter and the future chapters, as well.**


	3. Chapter 3: I Want To Meet Him

"A promise, _is_ a promise!" Jay slammed her hands on Kouichi's desk and glared at him after the bell rang for lunch to start.

"Yeah, I know, I know," he sighed. "Just let me grab my lunch, please."

Jay moaned in annoyance.

They walked in silence for five minutes before reaching their desired destination. At random times, Jay would unconsciously touch her back pocket, while Kouichi did the same thing shortly after. It was a habit they formed for always putting their drumsticks in their back pocket. Kouichi pulled a stick out and started to twirl it around his fingers, every so often, tossing it in the air like a baton.

They finally got to a music room that they always spend their free time in. Various instruments could be found in there such as: a set of drums, a piano, a couple acoustic guitars, some tambourines, and bongos. A few microphones could be found in an unused practice room in the back of the room.

Jay walked in and moved to one side of the room, leaning on the window sill with the suns rays outlining her figure. Kouichi stood in the middle of the room and admired her figure for a few moments.

Her skin was smooth and dusted with a light tan. She had beautiful almond colored eyes that made you want to take them and put them on display in a museum. Her light, chocolate brown hair was in the style of a short bob. She had a baggy, black shirt, a sleeve lazily hanging off of her right shoulder. The bottom of the plain shirt also covered most of her short shorts, but not to the point where you couldn't see her shorts at all.

"Start talking!" Jay growled, leaning on the window seal.

Kouichi scratched the back of his neck and looked around. He moved to the piano bench and sat down, resting his elbows on the piano behind him. After a minute, he spoke:

"Jay," Kouichi started. "I have a brother."

She stared at her best friend for several moments, not quite sure if she was hearing the words that he spoke correctly.

"Jay?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, I think I'm deaf. I need to find my hearing aids," she joked, looking around the room.

Kouichi chuckled and replied, "Jay, I'm serious!"

"Oh you are? Oh, nah man. I thought we were playin' games!" she said sarcastically.

Kouichi sighed before Jay spoke up again.

"Is that it?"

Kouichi nodded. "Basically, yeah."

"So, why is that such a big deal, man?" she asked as Kouichi slowly rubbed his palms together. "Did he run away, or something? I mean, that's more common than you think."

"No, he didn't run away."

"Is he older? Oh, is he a criminal? Dude, that'd be sick to have a criminal as a brother! Oh, how old is he? Man, I'd date him in a heartbeat!" Jay said, and this time, she was actually being serious.

"He's 12," Kouichi quietly answered.

"Awe, so he's your half sib-"

"Twin."

"What?" Jay asked confused.

"Jay, he's my twin!" Kouichi shouted, with tears forming at his bottom eyelid.

He looked away, covering his mouth. He had never raised his voice at her before. He leaned his elbows on his knees and stared at a small pebble on the floor.

"Oh," Jay whispered sympathetically.

She didn't know how to help Kouichi in this situation. She had an older sister that was 24 and a newlywed, but she still saw her quite a bit. Yeah, Jay was a girl, but she didn't fit in the stereotypical girl category. She's not the best when it comes to nurturing others, or herself, for that matter. She was the type of person that pushed down her emotions and "forgot" about them. If she needed to let her emotions go, then she would sit down at the set of drums she has in her room. She'd pound on them for hours until she forgot what a broken heart felt like.

Jay walked over to the piano and lifted the lid. She sat next to Kouichi on the bench with her legs on either side and lifted his chin so he was looking at her. His tears were slowly running from his eyes, almost like they were deciding if they wanted to stay, or leave.

"Kouichi," Jay said, softly. She looked deep into his eyes, almost as if she was searching for a lost memory. "How does all this make you feel?"

After a few seconds, Kouichi turned to the piano keys and, without knowing how to play the piano correctly, tapped a few notes. He went down the scale, making sure he hit every single key. Once he got closer to the bottom of the scale, he went up hitting the higher notes. This time missing quite a few keys in the middle. Once he got to the middle of the piano, his tapping got quicker and harder.

Jay could feel his emotions being played from the keys and knew exactly why Kouichi was upset. She felt his fear, his anger, his sadness, his loneliness, and even his darkness. She looked up at Kouichi's face and noticed that his tears had made a decision; they decided to fall. She watched as he pounded the keys with his fist.

"Jay," Kouichi sobbed. "I have a twin brother!"

She placed her hand on Kouichi's shoulder and stayed there, letting him cry through the rest of lunch.

"I want to meet him," Jay had told Kouichi in their last class of the day.

Yeah, Kouichi had just cried 2 hours ago, but when Jay wanted something, she pushed until she got it. She doesn't care about what the other person might feel, even if the person was her childhood friend.

"What? Ok, then you can come over after practice."

"No! I'll text Adam saying we'll be a little late, but I'm definitely meeting your brother, gosh that sounds weird, right after school!"

"But-"

"No 'buts!' Unless, you want me to go to your house right now?"

"You'll be skipping school!"

Jay stared into Kouichi's eyes and responded, "Is this a face that looks like it cares?"

"Fine." Kouichi sighed and texted his brother.

_I'll be coming home right after school cause there's someone I want you to meet. I hope that's ok. Actually, you don't have a choice, sorry; she's being too pushy… I'll see you in a few hours. :D_

"Happy?" Kouichi asked, after showing Jay his text.

"Yes, actually, I am. By the way, I'm not _that_ pushy."

"Really?" he asked, raising his eyebrow, "Yeah, and you're not sarcastic either."

"Shut up." Jay giggled, and flicked her friends forehead.

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry, for not posting in a while, I usually don't use this sight, so I totally forgot about it... Plus, I've been really busy with work and some personal and family things, too. I'm also trying a different way of writing, which is, writing the story out of order. Thank you for those of you that are supporting the story, I really appreciate the love. I have _tons_ of things in store for A Place Where We Belong, so I hope that this story won't flop...**


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